Bear And Share
by Wonder Squint
Summary: She's the only one who understands the pain in his heart. Coda to 2.08 "The Messenger".


_Here is another small "Maxton" piece for you folks to hopefully enjoy. "The Messenger" was a wonderful episode for these two and I couldn't let their moments go without writing a little something in regards to the final one in the episode. I thought it was written perfectly and executed beautifully by Jessica and Shawn. I only hope I can do it justice. Please read, review and enjoy._

_FYI: The title refers to Mike's burden of pain._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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**BEAR AND SHARE**

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_Silence is the sound of rest__  
__The only sound that can sound best__  
__While other sounds can cause great pain__  
__Silence is not the sound to blame_

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"Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who gets it."

Mike remembers her previous words now as her gaze is soft and warm upon his face.

It's not something he would wish for her to empathise, but she does and he is far more grateful that he might ever divulge.

"You okay?" Max asks him as she prepares his make-shift bed on Ryan's couch.

He nods too quickly, "Yeah…" and her expression tell him she's not convinced, "Not really." He corrects himself with a subtle shake of his head; the tears swell in his eyes, threatening to fall.

"Wanna talk?" she inquired, knowing the answer before he gives voice to it.

The question is considered this time but he answers equally as soon, knowing he should but certainly couldn't – not quite yet, "Not really." Though his voice echoed the previous words, the latter of the syllables hitched in his throat and dared to lose themselves mid-sentence.

"Ok," she breathes, almost a whisper, "We'll just sit here." It's a promise he's certain she'll keep. If it weren't for the bona fide depth of her eyes, he could rely on the steadfast trust he had in her; the same trust Mike hoped she now found in him.

Their eyes meet for about the hundredth time in the same day and they share a smile. A small one, but one of great, fervent meaning; a secret smile – one shared only between the two of them; one that is undeserving of anyone else.

Some time passed and Max kept her promise to grant him the lack of obligation to speak and the consolation of her company. The depth of the silence between them however somehow communicated louder than any fellow felt word might possibly conceive.

They say silence is a sort of absence and Max was inclined to agree while she sat across from Mike in her Uncle's living room: that thick air of comfortable quietude lingering between them. Silence is the presence of a great nothingness; void of words better left unavowed; it was something and yet nothing. An odd sort of solace could be found in its depths, the young woman decided.

The silence was cut short however with when a sudden convulsive gasp etched in sorrow escaped Mike's throat.

It seems that within those few moments of opulent quiet, the agony boiled and bubbled within Mike's very core; yearning to be released only for it to smoulder its way toward an inevitable explosion of grief.

Perhaps, should Mike have less of a control on his emotions, it might've burned into a form of jests and insults. After which most people would flee to leave him in a pit of perpetual misery.

Max however, would remain – he was sure of it. He could rely on her very own similar experience to certify that she would not – could not - abandon him.

The same conviction rattled within Max's mind: she could feel his pain gathering inside of her and if he looked up just then from his tear-stained hands, he'd find her heart ready to plummet in her eyes – the combination of his pain and her past years of emotional torment burning into her soul.

And without further gilding the kindred despair, Max promptly rose from the couch, to her feet and towards Mike, kneeling before him. She placed one hand on his knee while the other coaxed his own from his face.

Finally, with her assurance, his hands left his face, one falling to grasp Max's hand atop his knee.

His eyes find hers, prepared and all too willing to share in his burden.

The sheer intensity of her conviction had him defeated and his head falling into the gentle curve of her shoulder. His arms looped their way under her own, pulling her towards him – engulfing her in the most desperate of embraces. Max quickly adjusts to the new position and the new found bond between herself and Mike Weston.

The dampness of his tears reach her skin and Max can only tighten her hold on the clothing off his back, impossibly but surely tightening the embrace.

His soft cries fall into painful sobs as he clings to her body in the sincerest form of gratitude.

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_I cant promise it will be easy,_  
_I can promise it will be long._  
_But together we can make it._  
___Together we can keep strong. _


End file.
